Thanks to a post on Reddit, we've learned that Epic Games currently have no plans to put their store on Linux.
In response to a user question about it on Twitter, Sergey Galyonkin, the person behind Steam Spy who now works for Epic Games as the "Director of Publishing Strategy" said this:
It really isn’t on the roadmap right now. Doesn’t mean this won’t change in the future, it’s just we have so many features to implement.
It's interesting, since their original announcement mentioned the store was coming to "other open platforms" besides Windows, Mac and Android which we presumed would mean Linux. It's odd, since there aren't really other open platforms besides those to put a store on. We also had Tim Sweeney, the founder of Epic Games, give a ray of hope on Twitter with "We'll See :D" in reply to a user asking if the other open platforms meant Linux. So, I do still find it very odd that it's not on the roadmap at all. Not surprising though, Linux has always been low priority for Epic Games.
This could create an issue for us in future, since Epic Games are taking on timed-exclusive games which would mean no possibility for a Linux version until that ends. Even then, the developers of those games could decide to remain solely on the Epic Store. Remember, this has already happened with Satisfactory from Coffee Stain having the Steam store page removed to be exclusive to the Epic Store.
Speaking on Reddit, Epic's Sweeney said "These exclusives don’t come to stores for free; they’re a result of some combination of marketing commitments, development funding, or revenue guarantees.". So with that in mind, Epic Games are offering some commitments to developers to get their games, which could sway some future high-profile titles away from the likes of Steam.
For Linux gamers we still have Steam, GOG, Humble Store, itch.io and a few others which support Linux games. Heck, even Discord confirmed their store will come to Linux. For now, the Epic Store isn't a huge deal and doesn't have a lot of games (or features) for users so it won't be a huge problem right away. It will be interesting to follow, especially to see what Valve plan to do to prevent too many games leaving.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Quoting: iiari- There's Tencent, a huge Chinese company with tentacles all over the industry (including Discord) with tons of money and influence and Chinese companies in other industries have not hesitated to use that money and influence to artifically undercut (dumping) and extinguish competitors.
The main reson I am concerned abou Tencent, is that China has a high tolerance for abusive F2P models and the extensive grind connected to it. "Pay your way to the top? Why not, after all that money had to be earned."
As such I am rather scared about the long term influence on the quality of the games.
wvstolzing Dec 30, 2018
Quoting: KlausAs such I am rather scared about the long term influence on the quality of the games.
It's not like AAA publishers aren't already infected by such permanent monetization models. I'd say that there's no need to be scared about such a future -- but only because it's already the present reality.
ertuqueque Dec 30, 2018
exclusive titles on PC in just 1 store will lead to piracy and not to changing a store..... if its a SP game of course
i can already hear epic: mimimimi piracy mimimimi
Quoting: mylkaexclusive titles work on consoles because you cant crack them as easy as on PC!!!!!!
exclusive titles on PC in just 1 store will lead to piracy and not to changing a store..... if its a SP game of course
i can already hear epic: mimimimi piracy mimimimi
https://twitter.com/flibitijibibo/status/1073377254569320448
[email protected] Dec 30, 2018
Sweeney has been flapping gums for years.
Nothing ever comes out of anything he says anyway. He's proven that.
Last edited by [email protected] on 30 December 2018 at 4:53 pm UTC
Quoting: kuhpunkthttps://twitter.com/flibitijibibo/status/1073377254569320448
It's a paradox to read that from a Valve employee. But we all know that he is somehow right. On Steam, DRM never bothered me because I felt respected as a customer. Just something like "Family View" might have prevented millions of pirated copies.
Quoting: mylkaexclusive titles work on consoles because you cant crack them as easy as on PC!!!!!!
exclusive titles on PC in just 1 store will lead to piracy and not to changing a store..... if its a SP game of course
i can already hear epic: mimimimi piracy mimimimi
And then the publishers will get all butthurt over it, and rather than simply making their games available in as many places as possible and trying to improve the experience provided by their service so that people will want to use it over the competition, they'll waste loads of time and money implementing and maintaining various increasingly aggressive DRM schemes, further driving people away. And then later they'll all be claiming "The PC market is dying!" (edit: and they'll be blaming piracy for it rather than admit that it's due to their own actions driving potential buyers away)
Last edited by adamhm on 30 December 2018 at 5:57 pm UTC
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